Movies about muscle cars and the union members who made them have a natural connection to Motown. Now those same workers, who have been as hard-hit as anyone by layoffs, are looking for opportunities in the movie business – though not in front of the camera.
Archive for February, 2009
Motown Goes for Tinseltown
Thursday, February 12th, 2009Green Jobs Update
Wednesday, February 11th, 2009It’s too soon to say how the Obama plan to boost green jobs will fare in this economic maelstrom, but here is an interesting piece about one Midwestern town has seen the transition from the Olde Economy to the New Economy play out at a local factory. It used to make printing presses; now they churn out wind turbines.
The Glass is Half Full, dammit.
Tuesday, February 10th, 2009We know we can come off sounding a little shiny-eyed about the current fiscal, um, challenges that are facing all of us. But this is a nice reminder of the possibilities that abound in down economic times: A gallery of major brand names that launched in what felt like impossible circumstances at the time.
Sign of the Times
Monday, February 9th, 2009You all saw the number: Nearly 600,000 people put out of work in just one month. Writers are starting to grapple with what this financial free for all means to individuals. And along those lines, although this isn’t a real estate site, here is a take on one of the moves the feds are putting on the bankers that could be helpful for anyone who finds themselves between gigs.
A More Stable You
Friday, February 6th, 2009Once you were young and impulsive, you never really liked the job you were in. So you jumped from gig to gig, meeting new people, gathering new experiences, just enjoying the ride while you could. But now you’ve grown older and wiser, and you’re looking for a way to fit into that career-track opening you just found online. With apologies to Phil Ochs, here are a few tips on how to overcome you’re job-hopping history and make that job provider love you, love you, love you.
More on Green Jobs
Thursday, February 5th, 2009With President Obama trying to use his stimulus package to nudge the industry along, labor experts predict renewable energy and energy efficiency businesses could create nearly 40 million jobs. But if this is the work that matters to you, you’re going to need to get your mind around a whole new world of technologies. Across the country, thousands of students are taking up green studies.
Disrupting Healthcare
Wednesday, February 4th, 2009Swords gave tribes an advantage over their neighbors who were still wielding clubs. Gunpowder and cannonballs put masters of the martial arts at a definite disadvantage. Mechanized warfare tore up the trenches, and the arming of fixed-wing aircraft brought the fight into the skies. Then, you know, video killed the radio star and Craig’s List killed the daily newspaper. So, where will disruptive technology stand the complacent on their heads next? Maybe in the healthcare field. If caring for the sick is where you want to dedicate your energies, it’s worth checking out this New York Times piece about the future of the healthcare landscape.
Layoffs: The Tough Turn Pro
Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009OK, so you’re out on the street after five years at the mortgage company. Big deal. You never liked that cubicle. You always wanted to do something else – open your own spa, start your own tech support service. Call the shots and make your own hours. There are plenty of stories out there about how people have coped with layoffs. But our favorites continue to be the ones about entrepreneurial souls who took their severance pay and struck out on their own. And we hope that if you do the same, you’ll remember that TruCorps is the source for the talent you need when you start to grow.
Bonus: Here’s a little memoir from a manager who had to layoff employees that might be helpful for keeping things in perspective, whether you’re doing the laying off or boxing up your desk supplies.
Where are Our Bonuses?
Monday, February 2nd, 2009President Obama’s broadside against Wall Street Greed got us thinking – where are our bonuses? Where are the bonuses for the firegfighters and the nurses and the educators and the scientists and everyone else who, surveys say, are really doing the work that we think matters most? Why didn’t the government see that executives from the same firms who were lapping up rescue funds from the public bowl were about to buy themselves new houses in the Hamptons? We know, we know, the midlevel workers at the big financial firms rely on bonuses, too. But isn’t the bonus system part of the problem? Would we be in the mess that we’re in if certain seven-figure someones hadn’t been goaded into taking bigger and bigger risks to maximize returns? What do labor leaders have to say about all of this?